Management Consulting, it isn’t just about firing people

Management Consulting, it isn’t just about firing people

We sometimes give ourselves a bad name. We have been extremely successful at reducing operational costs at dozens of companies. But when we talk about that with friends and colleagues it all too often turns to, “oh, so you fire people.” It’s a lot more than. Yes, in many cases we are called in to advise companies when their businesses have slowed down, and they need to quickly reduce costs, for many, the first largest target is its people. But there are a number of other areas that should be explored first. Areas that often can provide faster access to capital and liquidity. You would be surprised just how much you can save by asking and looking in the less obvious places. Yes, you may have people in the wrong places, a team or division may no longer be profitable or strictly necessary but the good thing about people is that they can quickly be repositioned to do other things. We’ve moved accountants from the back office to the front lines, we’ve moved customer service personnel to sales and we’ve repositioned internal IT cost centers into revenue-generating products.

If your back is against the wall, it’s the perfect time to try something completely different. Chances are doing the same thing is what led you into that corner.